Spotlight on Robert Atkins

So was he fat or svelte or maybe a tad chubby? Was it really a slip on the ice or could it have been something else - even, dare it be said, something he ate?

This was the question The New York Times posed yesterday after controversy erupted again over the high-protein Atkins diet.

The diet's author, Dr Robert Atkins, 72, died last April after slipping on ice in New York.

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On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal published a medical examiner's report on Atkins's death, indicating that he was obese and had a history of congestive heart failure and hypertension.

His widow, Veronica, threatened to sue over the unauthorised release of the report, which was obtained by a vegetarian lobby group.

The Atkins Physicians Council in New York argued that he may have appeared obese due to the bloating side effects of his comatose condition.

The next day, USA Today published a hospital record showing his weight at the time of admission at 88.45 kilograms, 27.22 kilograms lighter than the figure cited in the medical examiner's report.

Newsday reported that the New York City medical examiner's office released the report by mistake after it was requested by an Omaha cardiologist touting his new book about fighting heart disease with a vegetarian diet.

The fact that the two confidential medical documents were published by the mainstream press is a reflection of the importance the Atkins diet has assumed in the US.

According to Atkins Nutritionals, about 25 million Americans are on the diet and nearly 100 million adhere to some "controlled carbohydrate" regimen.

HealthDay pointed out that Atkins's dietary habits were irrelevant to the Atkins plan's success.

Gary Foster, the clinical director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, told the news service that only three studies involving about 200 people on the Atkins diet had been completed.

"Across these studies, at six months Atkins has about twice the weight loss. At one year, there was no difference," Foster said. "There don't seem to be any adverse effects on cholesterol, and there are some good effects, namely an increase in good cholesterol and decreases in triglyceride."

Still, this is just not enough information from which to draw firm conclusions, he added.